


Jane on Top

by Rozilla



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: A massive long love letter to Jane Foster, Awesome Jane Foster, F/M, Gen, Girls discuss science, It's all about Jane Foster guys, Jane Foster is hurting guys, They've got Jane's back
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-03
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-14 11:53:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1265554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rozilla/pseuds/Rozilla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jane Foster is asked to lecture at the SHIELD Academy, but she feels her old anxieties and worries begin to creep in- but it's okay. Darcy has her back, not to mention it appears she has a fan club at the Science and Tech Division of the SHIELD Academy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jane on Top

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to call this fic 'I heard you talking shit about Jane Foster', but that's way too immature and I'm a total grown up.  
> This was born out of seeing Jane hate where ever I went in the MCU fandom, unchecked and relentless. It was upsetting, stupid and made me so angry that it kept me up at night.   
> So this is basically a long, fluffy love letter to Jane, my beautiful Jane who I love irrationally. I'm not fussed that she's sad, that's not a crime, I want to hug her and tell her she's going to be okay, not kick her whilst she's down. She needs the same unconditional love that other characters get without trying. She's everything I ever wanted in a character- vulnerable, passionate, clever, awkward, brave, sweet and utterly brilliant, female or otherwise.  
> I don't blame Thor for going all gooey eyed around her, I'd fall for her to. In fact I think I have.  
> Haters can go in a box to the left.  
> I might add to it at some stage.

'Jane?' Darcy looked out the front window to the traffic lights.

'Hmmm?' Jane replied, absently looking in the rear view mirror. Neither of them had spoken in what seemed like a million years.

'I know we're in a different country, but what are you supposed to do when the light goes green?' Darcy asked innocently.

' _SHIT!_ '

Jane pressed her foot down and narrowly missed getting hit by a car coming across from the other way, leaving angry waiting drivers in her wake. Her heart screaming up her throat and the burn of adrenaline roaring through her as she drove away from the sound of blaring horns. It was a few minutes before she felt ready to speak again.

'Well,' she said, as calmly as she could manage 'the important thing is that  _we_ survived.'

'Only just,' Darcy replied, weakly and readjusted her seat belt 'you seem... distracted.'

Jane sighed as they came to another round-about – she forgot how many there were in the UK. She waited until they were in a straight road before continuing 'I am... kinda nervous.'

Darcy cocked her head to one side and smiled that big doofy smile 'Would you like to tell me?'

'I....I don't know why I'm scared, I used to do these things all the time, I used to look forward to them.'

Darcy looked at her friend, her boss, with a critical eye. She'd seen so much of her ups and downs over the past five years that she was beginning to get a sixth sense for these things. She could tell what, or _who_ , this was about. Darcy took a deep breathe and laid it all out there.

'The reason you're upset and distracted is because a giant blonde thunder god fell out of the sky and pretty much turned your life upside down, sent you into a massive spiral of shame, lust, love-sickness and just when you thought you were finally moving on he shows up out of the blue and whisks you away and you get possessed by an all powerful evil, then involved in fighting evil aliens dressed like Teletubbies from Hell.' Darcy paused to take on air. ' _Then_ suddenly life's back to normal except it's _not_ because you still have a giant thunder god hanging around looking at you like you're unicorns and rainbows and you don't know how to handle it.'

Jane sat, nonplussed, starring out at the traffic ahead.

'Uh... yeah, I guess that's it.'

They carried on in silence for a while, the GPS occasionally butting in with directions for the airfield, before Darcy spoke again ' _Why_ can't you handle the sexy hunk of Norse looking at you like you're unicorns and rainbows again?'

Jane rolled her eyes, there was no point in pretending Darcy was way off, because she was, as always, bang on the money. Was Jane _that_ transparent? Or had Darcy been hanging around too long?

'I... he.... Look, any day he could just disappear again! I just... I'm sick of being that way. The way I was for all that time; I hated being-'

'In love?'

'It's a little early to call it that,' Jane muttered.

'I'm not sure normal relationship rules apply to you guys,' Darcy pointed out 'this is out the range of most dating experts at any rate.'

' _Anyway_ ,' Jane interrupted 'we hardly knew each other. We were pretty much thrown together. I was _so_ focused on getting back to him, to his entire world that he told me about. It would've proven _everything_ I had been chasing my entire life... I didn't want it to be just about him. I'd worked too hard to become what I am and I hated becoming this depressed ball of weeping jelly, listening to Evanescence and... _losing myself_. I'm not going back there, Darcy, I won't go back there. I've worked so _hard_ -'

'Jane, can I make a suggestion?' Darcy held up a finger.

'What?'

'Stop being ashamed of having feelings for someone who is, as far as I can tell, utterly perfect in every way?'

Jane glared at her 'He did _disappear_ for two years, he was even here for a while and didn't try to contact me.'

'To give him some credit, _not_ his fault. He did say he wanted to protect you from stuff going on in New York and the Nine Realms right? Can you _imagine_ what would have happened to you if Loki found out where you were?'

'I'm not a child! I'm a grown woman! I may only weigh, like, a hundred and ten pounds when wet and I've never wielded a weapon, well, not like a gun or a sword, in my whole life, but I'm not completely defenceless!'

'He agrees, which is also why he said he was a fool.'

'He was.'

'Well there you go,' Darcy said 'he did try to give you a message with Eric remember? But the poor guy's brains were so scrambled he couldn't remember.'

'He could've tried again,' Jane said, now quite angry, 'he could've done something, _anything_ to make me feel better. I was left a gibbering wreck! My whole life, my research ground to a halt because I was so heart broken I could barely function some days!'

'Like what? He was fighting across like, nine different dimensions, when would he have dropped a message? Besides, you were moving on, you were making a good job of it to, really! He dropped everything to go to you the minute you were in trouble and he's given up being King to be with you now.'

Jane stopped, her eyes pooling with tears for a second, and she muttered 'I need to pull the car over a second.'

They found a lay-by and pulled over, Jane sniffed and reached for a wet-wipe 'Excuse me-'

'You brought your make up bag? You don't want to give a lecture to a bunch of trainee SHIELD agents looking like Alice Cooper.'

'Yeah...' Jane blew her nose and wiped her eyes, carefully, 'I don't know what's brought this on-'

'You're anxious, already worried about getting back to the normal life you had before Goldilocks showed up and you're focusing on things that aren't hugely important and letting it all pile on top of you and now-'

'Darcy please stop!' Jane sobbed 'I don't know if I can take much more of this!'

Darcy did, and let Jane cry for a little bit, before she offered her another wet wipe 'You'll be okay. Sweetie? If there's one thing you don't have to worry about, it's him. If he does disappear again- no _listen_.'

Jane gave her a stare that, even through tears, promised a life time of knives and other sharp objects, but let her continue.

'If he does disappear again, there's nothing you can do, but you know now that if he did go, it'd either be because something bad has happened, in which case we can go rescue him or if you two don't work out. Even if that _does_ happen, he's not so much of a douche-bag that he'd leave without explanation.'

Jane sniffed 'How can you be so sure?'

'That he'd not leave without saying goodbye? Because he's a big, honourable doofus and he _respects_ you, haven't you noticed that? God damn Jane, what evil ass-hats have you dated in the past? Hannibal Lecture? Darth Vader?'

'I've had a... bit of a bad track record,' Jane admitted.

'I'll say! Holy shit girl! So when a literal Prince Charming lands from the _freaking_ sky, onto your balcony, treats you like the very sun in the sky- don't deny it- you are so messed up from people treating you like an idiot because you're so used to not being taken seriously and struggling for most of your professional life you don't know how to handle someone actually _treating_ you like a gorgeous super genius for once. And you know what? He would never stop _caring_ for you, even if it doesn't become proper _love_ love. If you see what I mean. If you broke up, it'd be mutual, it'd be cool and you'll both move on okay?'

'I guess... how can you be sure I'd get over it?'

'Because you are Jane Foster, Ph.D,' Darcy smiled broadly, 'and I will personally make sure you do. Besides, if you know he's gone for good, then that means you know for sure you can move on. It was the _not_ knowing that nearly killed you the first time.'

'Well, it didn't nearly _kill_ me to be fair.'

'Okay, slight exaggeration, but my point still stands. You were worried about him, you had a right to be. Shit Jane, if I was in your shoes I'd inhale ice cream every day and swear off men for good! You kept going, remember? You still had all that you'd achieved, you finished your doctorate, we helped Eric recover... ish. Apart from the no-pants and running around naked in public thing... then we got right back on the science train to Portals-ville and- Hey!'

Jane wrapped her arms around Darcy in a tight hug, sniffing deeply against her sleeve 'Thanks Darcy. You're the best intern ever.'

'Can I have that in writing?' Darcy smiled, patting her back with a free arm 'C'mon boss, we've still got to catch a flight.'

'Yeah... yeah, okay.'

After readjusting her make up in the rear view mirror, Jane took a deep breath, then started up the car again.

'You talked to Thor about this?' Darcy asked, with a hint of caution.

'No... he's lost so much, his Mom... his brother... he's already got enough to deal with. My problems seemed a bit... trivial, in the face of it.'

'You were there to,' Darcy said, 'you saw it.'

'I know, we've been pretty much propping each other up. He's getting there.'

'Okay.'

They drove on until the airfield showed up on the road sign ahead and the robotic voice of the GPS told them they'd arrived.

'So it's not an appropriate time to enquire about your sex life?'

'No Darcy,' Jane said, with a snort of incredulous laughter 'it _really_ isn't.'

 

The airfield was large, crawling with soldiers from the British army, MI6 and a few people in the distinctive SHIELD uniforms. The SHIELD plane sat expectantly on the runway as Jane's car was directed to an aircraft hanger. She and Darcy got out and were greeted by a tall black man in army fatigues, an older Asian man in a dark suit and a younger, very pretty black woman in SHIELD gear.

'Dr Foster? Ms Lewis?' The man in army fatigues held out a hand 'I am Major Stewart, this is Captain Bhandara from MI6 and Agent Weaver of SHIELD, we will be monitoring your trip to ensure it all goes smoothly.'

Agent Weaver smiled and shook their hands in turn 'It is a pleasure to meet you Doctor Foster,' her voice was smooth, light and she herself was pretty mesmerising 'My girls at the Academy are really excited to meet you, I'll introduce you them once we've touched down. How's Dr Selvig doing?'

'Much better,' said Jane a little taken aback 'he's on some better medication and they've assigned him an excellent therapist.'

'I'm glad to hear it,' she nodded to Captain Bhandara 'would you take these ladies to get their paper work checked out? I'll come along and we'll leave as soon as they're all sorted.'

Captain Bhandara nodded 'Certainly, if you two would come with me?'

They followed him to a small office set up in the hanger, cornered off in what looked like an upright tin can 'I'm sorry for the set up, it's all a bit of a rush in the last month or so,' he nodded to Jane 'ever since the giant space god left a dent in Greenwich.'

Jane nodded with a sigh, Darcy suppressed a giggle, but only just.

'I imagine being in the middle of that event was pretty... exciting?' Asked Agent Weaver, with a wry smile.

'Exciting is _one_ word for it,' muttered Darcy, before Jane nudged her in the ribs.

'We'll be keen to rely on your expertise in future,' Captain Bhandara ushered them inside 'take a seat.'

Jane was always uneasy around government authority figures, it had only been two years since a bunch of them had taken her research and left her high and dry. Bhandara and Weaver _seemed_ nice enough, he smiled and offered coffee, which they declined, Weaver leaned over like a protective mother hen. It seemed that, for once, SHIELD were on _her_ side.

'Here are the various bits of paper work I'll need you to sign off on,' he unwound a file and handed over a small piles of paper to each of them 'it's a bit complicated, given that neither of you are British citizens, but we've talked the Home Secretary around.'

'This is an awful lot of effort for getting us to a lecture,' Darcy said, suspiciously, 'not that we're not grateful for a free business class flight to an undisclosed location. At least we're not being blindfolded and handcuffed... are we?'

'No,' Bhadara chuckled 'but you're right, this _is_ a lot of effort, but with good reason. Mostly classified good reason. What I can tell you is that we, the British government, owe SHIELD big. This is the least we could do for them. They asked for you Dr Foster.'

Jane felt her spirit raise more than a little 'Really?'

Agent Weaver nodded 'Your work and research is what opened the worlds in the first place, you're the one who adapted the weapons you needed to save the world and, from what I understand, the entire universe. People credit Dr Selvig, but we're more than aware that you're the one who's worked so hard all these years. Why do you think we took your research to start with?'

Jane felt as if someone had filled her with warm light. She hadn't felt such a balm to her spirit in _so_ long... Well, apart from when she was alone with Thor, but that was different. Besides, it was nice to hear it from someone else for a change.

'I... thank you... I....' Jane stammered, blushing bright red 'I'm flattered, really!'

'You should be,' Agent Weaver patted her on the shoulder 'So Captain Bhandara? If you'd be so kind?'

There were about two dozen papers to read, sign, counter sign, thumb print ID and then individually vacuum seal. Then there were photo ID cards to be made, complete with a bio-metric ID scan and DNA samples. Their bags were scanned, thoroughly, and unpacked, with Jane needing to give a detailed lecture on the difference between a prototype Quantum Field Generator and a Improvised Explosive Device. The mini-Arc Reactor was a definite cause for concern, but they put it in a lock down compartment in the plane and neither of them were allowed to access them for the duration of the flight, which seemed a happy compromise. Both women were exhausted by the time they finally boarded the SHIELD plane, happy for the plush seats and hot meals brought over. The flight was over the Atlantic, but that's as far as Jane or Darcy could make out, although both were surprised at how little time they were taking, they were barely in the air for three hours before they hit the run way at the Academy.

'If you two would like to follow me,' Agent Weaver lead them out onto the short run way, allowing them a time to get their bearings 'I'll introduce you to the head of the Women's Union.'

They were met by two young women, one in a black hijab tied with a cog pin, and another with short red hair and a thick Scottish accent. Jane couldn't place the other girl's accent.

'I'm from Liverpool,' she said, 'I was at Belvedere Academy.'

'My Dad taught science there in the eighties!' Jane gasped.

'I know, that's kind of why I'm so excited to meet you! I never met him in person, but his work was a _huge_ deal at my school, he was such an inspiration, ' She beamed a big fangirl grin 'that and you saved the flippin' universe! Oh, I'm Dr Mirza by the way, you can call me Jalileh and I'm in applied Quantum Mechanics.'

'Oh... okay, pleased to meet you,' Jane smiled and nodded to Darcy 'This is Darcy Lewis, my intern.'

'Hey,' Darcy said, a little nervously.

'What am I? Chopped liver?' Asked the red head next to Dr Mirza.

'Oh, this is Dr Gillan, she's in Bio-engineering.'

'Oh.. I don't suppose you know-' Jane began.

'Your mum? Oh yeah, I know Dr Annabel Foster, she's going to be my mentor next year.'

'I am so, _so_ sorry,' Jane did not have to imagine what it was like having her Mom trying to tutor you. 

'Don't be, she's a firecracker, I love her!' Dr Gillan smiled.

'Well, it's so nice to meet both of you,' Jane's grin seemed to have become permanently lodged 'I am honoured to be here, especially trying to lecture to people who've probably got more Ph.Ds than I've got solder-iron burns.'

They beamed at her 'Listen Dr. Foster,' Gillan took her hand 'sorry, we're coming on strong, but we've got so much to ask you and if we don't get you inside and fill you full of coffee and ply you for answers we'll explode, so c'mon!'

Darcy could only follow in her wake as they dragged Jane towards the Academy mess hall, her own little smile playing across her face. It was so  _good_ to see Jane be showered with praise from two scientists just like her... It made Darcy feel a little bit choked up. 

 

After coffee, tea and a plate of cupcakes (with little neutrino particles iced one them – adorable!) Jane was at the centre of a group of women of different ages, colours and creeds, at the Union, who were plying her with questions about her work.

'So how's the Einstein-Rosen bridge coming along?'

'Have you thought about using Sterile Neutrinos? I heard they've just started tracking them at the University of Tennessee-'

'What's it like to be in the centre of a gravitational anomaly?'

'How many years are we off portal-driven technology and how long till we can literally reach through walls?'

'Is Thor as hot in real life as he is on TV?'

This last question came from Dr. Mirza, who soon got to be at the centre of a lot of glares and looks that screamed  _that's-so-inappropriate_ . Dr Gillan rolled her eyes 'Ignore her,' she sighed 'she's getting married in two months, so every dude is out of her reach and pretty much like catnip to her.'

'Oh c'mon, just cause the restaurant’s closed doesn't mean I can't look at the menu!'

'You are just the  _worst_ ,' spluttered another woman, the first American accent Jane had heard at this place, 'she's probably sick of people asking her about Thor!'

'I'm not a scientist,' Darcy called out 'so I can confirm that he is.'

'I bloody k _new_ it!' Dr Mirza 'he's just so... so...'

'Dreamy?' Jane supplied, happily bemused.

'Oh  _yeah_ .'

'Can we move on to some important stuff?' Asked Dr Gillan 'Did you really visit Asgard?'

Jane watched their faces for a moment and sighed 'Well, I will be touching on that in my lecture so... I don't want to give too much away.'

'Sure okay! Sorry, we're probably crowding you a bit, but we were all so excited to meet you!'

Jane smiled and blushed hard 'No it's okay... I'm so happy to be here, you've all been so nice to me!'

'Of course!' Dr Mirza looked scandalised 'who wouldn't be?'

Jane thought back to Asgard for a moment, to the All-father calling her a 'goat' effectively. It seemed like a million years ago. She thought about Loki, his cruel taunts at Thor, she had heard some of them- or thought she did.

'It's nothing, it's a heartbeat.'

She thought about the years of endless research, sleepless nights, the coffee, the junk food, the constant set backs, lack of funding, people scoffing at her theories, Eric  _constantly_ asking her if she was sure... and those years trying to move on from Thor when she thought that he, and Asgard, were lost to her. It felt good for people to have her back. 

'Excuse me ladies?' Agent Weaver poked her head around the door 'You need to give Dr Foster some time to set up and you've all got classes. Hop to it.'

They all groaned or made noises along the lines of 'Yes Agent Weaver...' and headed out with whispered encouragements to Jane. She and Darcy were left alone with Agent Weaver, who flashed them a smile 'I'm sorry, I hope they didn't come on too strong.'

'No it's fine,' Jane's face ached with the smiling 'I'm just really flattered-'

'You've said that already,' Darcy hissed.

'I can't thank you enough for agreeing, the Women's Union were very keen to have you and we were very keen to get you in. You're pretty much our biggest authority on an entire alien species, not to mention the first human being to have successfully crossed a portal to another... planet?'

'They prefer the term 'realm',' Jane said, 'but planet is fine.'

'We have much to learn from you,' Weaver nodded 'I'll show you to the lecture hall.'

It was smaller than Jane expected, which eased her fears of speaking to an empty hall. She connected her laptop to the projector, extracted her equipment and began to set up.

'Why haven't they asked you about Thor?' Darcy whispered, suddenly.

'They did,' Jane whispered back.

'No, I mean the guys in suits,' Darcy looked around the hall 'why haven't they grilled you on where he is? They must know you know him right?'

'Maybe they don't think he's on Earth. Why are we whispering?'

Darcy shrugged 'I don't know, they're a super spy club who might be listening to us right now?'

'Good point.'

'When are we going to start telling people he's back?'

'When he's ready to. He's still adjusting, so for now, as far as they know; I'm the one with the human experience of an alien world okay?'

'Sure.'

Jane checked, re-checked and re-re-checked, fearing the time that would probably go too fast and too slow before the lecture had to begin.

'I'm going to the bathroom,' she said, 'let me know if anything looks like it's not working?'

'Go pee,' Darcy sighed 'you're making  _me_ nervous now!'

Jane dashed to the bathroom, finding it after a few nervous enquiries, and headed inside. She finished, staring in the mirror for a while, into her own eyes whilst she tried to slow her breathing.

_This is what you do, you can talk science till the cows come home, you can talk about the things you saw on Asgard, what we can gain from our relationship with them, what if we can stabilise the portal technology?_

_It's all in your notes. Just be Jane._

She remembered reading in a Psychology paper that the human brain's survival instinct can pull up important voices that we need to hear, that's why some people believed in ghosts or angels or spirits... She realised she had just heard her Dad.

'Just be Jane, you'll be fine.'

He'd said that to her when she'd first applied for her place on the Howard Stark Memorial Grant, back in High School, to research on newly discovered Sterile Neutrinos. It was a blip, her brain throwing up a voice when she needed it, but hell, she'd take it. If her Dad were here, he'd say that to her. Her phone bleeped with an incoming text message.

_Good luck! You'll kick ass, love Mom xxx Dad would b proud!_

She hugged her phone to her chest and breathed a deep, bone rattling sigh.

_Here I go._

She packed away her phone when her hand caught something in her bag, a piece of gold paper marked with runes, written carefully and beautifully. She checked her rune alphabet app, a real convenience when you're dating a Norse God, and the translation nearly brought a tear to her eye.

_I am no poet, no wordsmith, but know that my thoughts go with you, my beloved Jane._

She packed it away, her heart skipping and her head now firmly in the game.

 

_I am loved. People care. I am not going to be sad or scared._

_I have no reason to be._

 


End file.
